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2018
The Status of Engineering Geology: Constraints on Infrastructure Development in Bangladesh
Mir Fazlul Karim Geotesting Express Inc.
Muhammad Qumrul Hassan University of Dhaka
Nazrul I. Khandaker CUNY York College
Masud Ahmed New York City Department of Environmental Protection
Belal Ahmed Sayeed Dewberry Geotechnical Company
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This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] Dhaka University The Status of Engineering Geology: Constraints on Infrastructure Development in Bangladesh 1 2 3 4 5 Mir Fazlul Karim , Muhammad Qumrul Hassan , Nazrul Islam Khandaker , Masud Ahmed and Belal Ahmed Sayeed (1) Engineering Geologist, GeoTesting Express Inc., Geocomp Corporation, Acton, MA 01720, USA (2) Department of Geology, University of Dhaka, Ramna, Dhaka, 1000, Bangladesh (3) Geology Discipline, Earth and Physical Sciences, York College Of CUNY, 94-20, Guy R. Brewer Blvd, Jamaica, NY 11451, USA (4) New York City Department of Environmental Protection, Geotechnical Section, NYCDEP, 59-17, Junction Blvd, Queens, New York, NY 11373, USA (5) Dewberry Geotechnical Company. 132 W 31st St #301, New York, NY 10001, USA
ABSTRACT In recent years, megacity Dhaka is known to have one of the fastest urban population growths in Bangladesh. The population in Dhaka and other megacities has increased from 7 to 50 million during the last four decades. The rapid rate of urban population growth, along with the extreme paucity of real-estate for new infrastructure development or upgrading existing facilities, is already exacerbating the situation for the city planners and exerting tremendous pressure to come-up with viable solutions. Although practice of engineering geology, geotechnical exploration, and testing exists in Bangladesh; the system has still yet to adopt controlled quality standards with unified and professionally acceptable methods. There is a dire need for accessing shallow borehole data via a central depository system in order to initiate, reassess and provide sound geoengineering recommendations for any contemplated capital construction projects. A well-coordinated system involving city agencies and private sectors can ease the situation for effecting communication regarding knowledge-sharing and keeping involved geotechnical personnel informed about already acquired data. Several development projects of the country received finance from various sources and were monitored by various agencies with prescribed methodology for execution and implementation. This diversity of funding, ownership and oversight of the projects has put the geotechnical exploration and testing system into challenging state in Bangladesh. Integration of pertinent geomorphic, regional geology, bedrock, water table and soil data will certainly aid understanding the constraints associated with any subsurface construction. Mega cities such as Dhaka and Chittagong will require intense modification in order to accommodate urban facilities, including installation of a multilevel transportation system with underground space utilization. On a positive note, the megacity of Dhaka has suitable natural ground conditions typified by sound geoengineering parameters. Standard geotechnical exploration coupled with assessment of geomorphic and geotechnical attributes will augment existing data to characterize geological materials and prepare detailed engineering/geotechnical reports to be used for design and capital construction projects. Geotechnical information from the recently completed City Water Tunnel # 3 (New York City) is considered. History of Engineering Geology in Bangladesh Geology of Bangladesh CONSTRAINTS ON INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT IN BANGLADESH The history of advancement of engineering geology in Bangladesh dates back to early seventies after the Port City Chittagong Generalized geology of Chittagong City Chittagong is RIVER EROSION AND FLOOD: independence of the country. By the virtue of national capacity the Geological Survey of Bangladesh (GSB) led the largest port city of Bangladesh. The engineering 5 CASE STUDY OF FURIOUS PADMA RIVER EROSIN IN NARIA URBAN AREA the beginning of professional practice and contribution of engineering geology in Bangladesh. Among the pioneer geology of the city is essentially influenced by the flood plain of the Karnaphuli River, the tidal plain along the Bank line December 1984 Bank line December 2016 Erosion causes town to turn river. engineering geologists of this land the most mentionable are Mesbahuddin Ahmed, Anisur Rahman, AKM 7 coast of the Bay of Bengal, and the undulated-to-dissected Shahidul Hasan, Hasan Faruque, Khurshid Alam, Dr Khandokar Musharaff Hossain, Dr. Sajjad Hossain and Mir 3 2 hills. The hilly area is formed of folded, soft sedimentary Fazlul Karim. Though the concept and understanding of engineering geology existed during the early development rocks of Mio-Pliocene age and it is the southern extension 1 Karnaphully Floodplain 3 and Valley Plain years (before 1980) of Bangladesh, the quantification of qualitative geological information and data for 6 of Sitakunda Anticline. The bedrock formations are Naria township on moderate to intensely fractured and faulted at a number of Old Natural Levee engineering application was very limited as the practice of civil engineering relied on rule of thumb methods. It is 2.53 miles 2.53 miles places. In the beginning, the city started settling mainly in being noted that Mesbahuddin Ahmed was the first engineering geologist of Bangladesh. He coauthored the 8 4 the higher terrain except for a few patches of port facilities Bank line December 2017 seismic code for structural design engineering, through a national committee (popularly known as Committee of along the river mouth of Karnaphuli. Later, due to rapid 1 9 increase of the urban population, the city extended into the Experts on Earthquake Hazard Minimization of Geological Survey of Bangladesh), where the structural Failure of bank protection measures. engineering team was led by renowned civil engineer Dr. Jamilur Reza Choudhury of Bangladesh University of lower alluvial and coastal plains without considering the geological aspects and constraints of these terrains. The Engineering and Technology (BUET). The first quantitative engineering geological input by a group of young subsurface engineering geologic conditions are strongly Bank line December 1994 Old Natural Levee 2.53 miles 2.53 miles geologists of Dhaka University Geology Department during a 1980 engineering exhibition of Bangladesh Institute Karnaphully Floodplain suitable for construction of underground tunnels and Failure of stiff foundation on of Engineers in Dhaka, sponsored by Md. Nurul Amin, an engineer of Foundation Consultants Ltd. The group Figure 1: Geological Units infrastructures, provided detailed bedrock engineering Bank line December 2006 liquefiable sand and silt. was led by Mir Fazlul Karim and other members included Dr. Arif Mohiuddin Sikder and Dr. M. Aziz Hasan. The 1 and 2 – Folded hills of Tertiary sedimentary rock geology maps are prepared using standard seismic and 3 – Pleistocene Terraces Barind and Madhupur group made a poster session and participated in the exhibition to demonstrate geological factors responsible for geotechnical parameters . The city is exposed to landslide 4 – Old Alluvial Deposit (Chandina Alluvium) and slope instability, excavation of hills and valley fill, damaging different infrastructures in the cities. The most innovative presentation attempted to convince civil 5 – Alluvial Fan Deposit flash flood, soft soil, soil collapse, liquefaction, river and 6 – Paludal Deposit, Marshy clay & peat engineers and policy makers that damage to the roads of Dhaka city and surrounding regions were caused by coastal erosion, tidal surges and flood. The geological 2.53 miles year. every geology the bank changes surface shifting river Dynamic 7 – Young Alluvial Deposit (Inter-stream deposit) hazards are associated with various geo-dynamic geological factors. The postulated causes were simple and concerned the Madhupur Clay that forms the ground of 8 and 9 – Deltaic and Coastal Deposit. Including Beach, Figure 7: The mighty river Padma is a complex flow of various pattern, ranging between meandering and swiftly shifting braided at degradational and depositional geomorphological Dhaka city. The Madhupur Clay is composed of swelling clays and after every rainy season the roads get bumped Estuarine and Mangrove swamp deposits. Figure 6: Near Surface Engineering Geological Map of different seasons of the year which is totally dependent on discharge and runoff in the Padma River watershed including human up with swelling heaves and troughs causing fractures in the asphalt (or tarmacs in the airports) ultimately Chittagong City, Bangladesh (Karim, M F et al., 1990) processes in this area. interferences and control along the upstream. This year the river was severely furious in her flow and bank erosion and caused severely furious in her flow and bank erosion and caused demolishing of hundreds of infrastructures, many villages and number of urban centers degrading their physical condition. The engineers from the Roads and Highways adopted a significant change in Dhaka Megacity like Naria Municipality in Shariatpur. During the last months of September and August., 2018 more than 4,000 families have lost their the design and construction of pavement and sub-base. The underlying red soils are removed and replaced by LANDSLIDE IN CHITTAGONG homes. One renowned Bangladeshi geotechnical engineer M compacted soil/sand. This practice changed the quality of roads sharply in Dhaka city since early eighties. The Mega City of Dhaka occupies a unique geological location. The Humayun Kabir mentioned that failure due to hydrodynamic action subsurface geology is firm and almost homogenously consistent. Figure 8: LARGEST LANDSLIDE EVER of the Padma river, triggered by geomorphological processes in Afterward many geologists of Bangladesh worked directly or indirectly for the advancement of Engineering OCCURRED IN THANCHI-BANDARBAN RD complex geological environment, including char formation of Geologically it is an old terrace raised considerably about 6m above sea SECTION Pictured by Mir Fazlul Karim,1997. Geology in Bangladesh. I would like to mention the names with due respect for their contributions. These include level (AMSL). The surrounding floodplains are at about 4m AMSL. The channel bars (Char) on the offshore of the erosion bank. The Dr. Badrul Imam in petroleum and mining engineering approaches, Dr. Syed Humayun Akhter in earthquake, ground is composed of Madhupur Clay. The Clay is Over-consolidated. The phenomena of hydro-soil interaction is further aggravated by the stiffer foundation system of the many infrastructures in urban Naria. structural and tectonics, which provided a direction for hazard assessments, Dr. Hossain Monsur for his great work shear strength properties are considerably high. The Thickness of Madhupur The concerned geological institutes and geotechnical engineering in understanding of Quaternary geology that is an integral part of engineering geology, Dr. Maksud Kamal and Clay is about 6 m and it overlies a firm sandstone bed, geologically known group need to come forward for a detailed geological mapping, Md. Zillur Rahman for thier great work on Dhaka city and disaster management. Simultaneously, many as Dupi Tila Formation (Upper Dupi Tila Sandstone). It may be considered scientific investigation and geotechnical analysis of this furious as very dense bedrock. The Madhupur Clay and Dupitila Sandstone are failure. The failure analysis like Naria are not studied or described in professional civil engineers continued to support the necessity of geological information in their design and very much suitable for construction of underground structure, even for American or European text books. Present authors speculate similar Bangladesh Roads and Highways included the Geological Survey of Bangladesh in their design team during behavior of the river in the coming years due to global climatic shift development of underground transportation system for this growing city. and intense human interference along the upstream. geotechnical investigation and design phase of first Buriganga Bridge. The study reveals that the city has been developed on an advantageous ADVANCEMENT IN ENGINEERING GEOLOGICAL TESTING geological location consisting of raised Madhupur Clay Formation or older Table 1:The distribution of geological hazards in different geological Table 2: Significant geological hazards in major cities of alluvium in respect to the surrounding floodplains of young alluvial environments of Bangladesh Bangladesh deposits. Geological Environment Geological Hazards
Geological Fluvial/ Flood Coastal Terrace Hills Valleys Table 3: Factors that affect development in Greater Dhaka city. City Figure 2: DEM of Dhaka City and Tongi area. (Ground elevation Groundwater discharging from joints. Water Tunnel #3, NY hazards Piedmont plain plain plain ranges between 7 and 4m, scaled with dark and light colour while blue Rating Factors Unit Areas River bank erosion YYYNN N shows water or marshy surface. Compare the past drainage map ). 1. a. Liquefaction 3 Floodplain of Buriganga river intrusion
Salt water water Salt Hazardous soils
Water b. Slope failure 2 & 1Along streams and depression edges logging Erosion Swelling
Landslide Figure 3: 3D Block model of Dhaka city surface geology and Subsidence
Scour YYYNN Y Soft soils and collapse top two layers of very stiff to hard clay and moderately c. Flood 3 & 2Areas below normal flood level Soil erosion YYYYY NDhaka YYNY NN N d. Waterlogging 1 & 2Areas where natural drainage is Earthquake YYYYY Y lithified sandstone bed showing very dense urban settlement Chittagong YNNY YY Y blocked Debris flow NNNYY Y Khulna YNYY NN Y e. Fill collapse 3 Filled abandoned water‐wells, Slope failure NNNYY Y ponds and depressions Sand flow YYNNY YRajshahi YYNY NY N 2. Poor a. Ground collapse and 3 Low areas with partially Figure 10: Ahmedul Hassan, a civil Subsidence NYYNN N subsidence saturated sand/silt Figure 9: Portion of Manhattan Water Tunnel #3 (New York City) excavated by TBM (prior to 2010). Resonant Column- engineer from Dhaka, visiting a fully Swelling soil NNNYY Y elevation < 2 m Torsional Shear Automated Geotechnical Testing Water logging NYYYY Y b. Swelling clays 1 Mostly central or high area Nazrul Khandaker inspecting samples from the partially weathered zone. Test (RCT) Flash flood YNNYY Y c. Soft to firm clay, organic 2 & 3Eastern part of Greater Dhaka city Laboratory, consisting of testing facilities Annual flood NYYYN N soils, and municipal waste Summary for a wide range of rock and soil Saline water NN N Figure 4: Natural parameters and properties to accommodate intrusion NNY Geology played a key role in the construction of the New York City Water Tunnel#3. drainage map of the testing facilities for RAJUK (Dhaka City Tidal flood NYYNN N Dhaka-Tongi area. Sound geotechnical information not only enabled tunnel to be constructed over the Dev Authority). Note : Y = Consideration of geological hazards is required. N = geological hazard indicated may be Prepared from aerial course of allotted time, also prevented New York City agency from encountering any While Nancy Hubbard ignored. Hydrological hazards such as tidal bores and cyclones are not included in this table photographs of 1952. notable geotechnical disaster! Acquisition of proper geological information is extremely demonstrates test with automated Arrows show the Resonant Column and Torsional Shear surface slope and vital to any tunnel or capital construction projects in terms of resource utilization, time, Test. Mir Fazlul Karim of Geocomp water flow and most importantly the welfare of personnel involved in the construction and design Corporation devoted to transfer the directions. All these phase. Megacities like Dhaka and other major cities including recent start of tunnel streams are clogged technology to Bangladesh with keen co- operation and support from Qumrul due to urbanization. BH BH construction in Chittagong are now becoming a fertile ground to test out these pivotal (Karim, M F. et al., Figure 5: An open cut exposure of Madhupur Clay Residuum consisting of very geoengineering concepts/principles to achieve maximum effectiveness towards Hassan, Maksud Kamal, Mehdi Ansary, 1993) stiff to hard clay & clay-silt. The average Undrained Shear Strength is >150kPa accomplishing geoengineering tasks. Knowledge of bedrock and engineering geology Tahmeed Al Hussaini and Md. Zillur and Shear Wave Velocity ranges between 650 and 1000 ft/sec. Unit 1 in Figure3 and timely sharing of compiled geotechnical information with engineers, drillers, Rahman. (Courtesy: Gary T. Torosian, and Table 3. (Mir Fazlul Karim a former Director of Geological Survey of Geocomp Corporation, Massachusetts, management team and adoption of standard geotechnical exploration and testing system Bangladesh and presently Engineering Geologist at Geocomp Corporation, USA Questions?USA). Please contact: Mir F Karim and AKM Khorshed Alam, a former Director General of Geological Survey of – key to a successful completion of the project and achieve sustainable urban [email protected] / Dr. Nazrul Bangladesh working for detailed geological mapping of Dhaka terrace). development in Bangladesh. Khandaker [email protected]